The Mechanic’s Apprentice
by Romshark
Summary: Sonic works with Tails on his inventions, but exactly who’s helping who?
1. Boredom sets in

Welcome to my first Sonic fic. Much like everyone else at this site, I don't own Sonic or any of the characters.  Please review.  On with the show!

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Sonic was bored.  It was raining out, so he didn't feel like running outside.

"What's up, Tails?" he said as the fox opened the door.

"Not much, just working on the Tornado's engine." Tails said, gesturing for Sonic to come in out of the rain.

"Oh.  Maybe when you're done, we can play a game of checkers or something, or play video games."

"Probably, but first I need to get the engine work done.  It'll be an hour or so."

"Ok.  I'll find something to do while you work on it."

Tails went back to working on the engine.  Sonic tried to find something to do.  He went online and surfed the net, but found nothing of particular interest. He tried to watch some television, but nothing was on but financial reports, old shows, and infomercials for cooking pans and food savers.

Sonic picked up Tails phone and dialed a number. "Hello?" said a voice on the other side.

"Hey Amy. How're you doin'?" Sonic said.

"Sonic! What a pleasant surprise!"

"I don't have anything to do, so I was wondering if you'd like to see a movie."

Sonic expected to hear squeals of glee and happiness from Amy.

"Sonic, I'd love to, but I've got a dentist appointment in half an hour."

"Oh, OK.  Another time, perhaps."

"OK.  Bye Sonikku!"

Sonic hung up the phone. "Wow, you must be really bored," Tails said as he wiped his gloves using an old rag.

"Hey, she's not that bad to hang with, I guess."

"Sonic, you need a hobby or something."

Tails then went into the garage area. Sonic followed and sat on the ground next to a bookcase of manuals and magazines about machines.  He watched Tails work for a while, but the engine was suspended by metal chains from pulleys on the other side of the Tornado.  Sonic couldn't see the engine or Tails very easily. _I really need to get a Game Boy SP_, he thought.

Completely bored, Sonic noticed the books next to him. He picked one up and started looking through it.

Sonic wasn't completely clueless about machines. Before he met Tails, he used to change the oil and put gas in the Tornado, and he washed it. He knew how to fly it, but for anything more, he had to take it to a shop and pay someone to work on it.

As he looked though, he read about engine parts. Some of it he already knew, from either Tails, or when destroying Eggman's evil machines. The book filled in some of the gaps. Sonic went through the books, constantly having moments of realization as he found out exactly what parts do and how they work together.

Sonic finished that book and picked up another one.  He had actually found it interesting, and wanted to read more.  After an hour, he decided to get a drink.

"Hey Tails, I'm gonna get a soda.  You want one?"

"Yeah, I could use a drink."

Sonic sped to the refrigerator in the next room and came right back.  He handed one of the cans to Tails and noticed the frustrated look on the young fox's face.

"Somethin' wrong, little bro?"

"I can't get the engine to work!  I've tried changing the oil, cleaning the spark plugs, and checking the fuel line for clogs."

Sonic looked at the engine for about 20 seconds.

"There's your problem."

"What? Where?"

"The spark plugs aren't hooked up to the distributor cap in the right order, so the firing sequence is off."  Sonic switched a few wires around. "There, try it now."

Tails started the engine, and it started up and running perfectly. "Well I'll be," the fox said under his breath.  He turned off the engine and looked at Sonic. "When did you learn about engines?"

"I guess I picked it up from one of your books over there. They're actually pretty interesting, maybe this mechanic stuff isn't so boring after all."  Sonic went back over to the books, took a sip of soda, and went back to reading.

Tails didn't know what to say, so he went back to putting the engine back into the Tornado.


	2. A party

See page one for disclaimer.

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As the months passed by, Sonic found that he liked this mechanical stuff.  He spent most of his free time at Tails Workshop, either helping Tails or working on his own little projects.  Tails pretended to enjoy working with Sonic, but he really didn't like the situation.  Sonic seemed to know more about fixing and building as he did.  At times, he felt like he was the one helping Sonic.  Sonic even expanded the seating on the Tornado to four without affecting its speed.  Tails had tried to do that many times before without success.

Amy's birthday was coming up, and Sonic decided to build her a present.  Tails suggested that they have a surprise birthday party, and Sonic agreed.  They got together with their other friends (except Amy of course) and planned it all out.

Amy was sure surprised with the party.  Everyone was having a good time, even Sonic. Working with all that mechanical stuff improved his patience, so he didn't feel like running off at the first sign of boredom.  Tails was having a good time and forgot about his troubles.  At least, until the time for presents came.

She opened all her presents except for Sonic's, leaving that for last.  She got stuff including a hammer polisher from Tails, a brush from Cream, and cubic zirconium earrings from Rouge.

"What, were you expecting real gems?" Rouge stated when Knuckles questioned her gift choice.

"Now let's see what my Sonniku got me!" Amy exclaimed. She opened the large box to find two smaller boxes: one blue and one orange.

"Open the blue one first, Amy," said Sonic.  Amy did and got a plastic Sonic figure, about the size of a Chao.  It was greatly detailed, showing days of delicate work.

"It's great, I love it!" Amy squeeled.

"And that's not all," Sonic said, grinning.  "Let me show you."

Amy gave the figure to Sonic. He then turned the arms so they were facing up, and placed it on the floor. He then opened the orange box and took out a remote control, like those used for RC cars.

"What's that for?" Shadow asked.

"Watch," Sonic replied. He started operating the controls.  Everyone expected the Sonic figure to run around, jump or something.

Instead, out of the orange box came another figure of the same scale as the Sonic one. It was a figure of Tails, flying through the air using it's two plastic tails. Sonic piloted the Tails figure over the Sonic figure, and had it descend.  When it got close enough, the Sonic figure grabbed the hands of the Tails figure, and Sonic flew the two around the room over the surprised faces.

"How did you make it grab the other's hands?" Amy asked.

"I bet it was using magnets," Rouge said.

"Correct!" Sonic beamed.

"Better watch out, Tails. Sonic might build a replacement for you," Knuckles said, patting Tails on the back.

Everyone laughed at this. Tails also laughed at this, but he was forcing himself to.  He didn't feel like laughing.  He felt like breaking down and crying.  He felt like he wanted to die.


	3. Insanity plea

See page one for disclaimer.  Believe me, nothing's changed.

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About a week later, Sonic, Tails, and Amy were at the workshop. Knuckles glided in with some news.

"Guys, I just heard Eggman was seen with some robots."

"Let's go get him!" Sonic exclaimed.  They all ran to the Tornado. Sonic got into the pilot seat and started getting the plane ready. Tails was used to being the pilot, but he didn't say anything and got into the seat behind him.  Knuckles and Amy got into the other seats and they flew in the direction Knuckles had indicated.

After landing the plane, the crew got out and looked around. Amy heard some mechanical sounds.

"I think Eggman is that way," she said. The others agreed and went that way.

Amy proved to be correct when they caught up with Eggman. "I'll run down there and take out the robots before he can blink," Sonic said.

Sonic ran down the hill and hit the robot with a homing attack, but it didn't even scratch the robot. "What the…" was all he got out before the robot kicked him away.

"No way!" Knuckles yelled.  They ran down the hill as fast as they could. Knuckles started to attack the robot that hit Sonic, while Tails and Amy went to check on the blue one.

Sonic was already getting up, just in time to dodge Knuckles flying over his head. All the robots were still in the same condition.

"Do you like my new EK series robots, hedgehog?" Eggman yelled. He flew above the heroes in his hovercraft, out of reach of any attack. "They're made of a new titanium alloy I developed, impervious to your primitive physical attacks. And these are just a few of the millions in production."

"Physical attacks, huh?" Sonic said. He took out what looked like a light gun from a video game and shot an energy beam at one of the robots.  It instantly shorted out and exploded.

Eggman was furious. "So, that annoying two-tailed troublemaker has made some new toys for you, has he?"

"Nope," Sonic said with a grin. "This energy pistol was designed, built, and now tested completely by yours truly."

Tails looked at Sonic with contempt at his words.  Sonic didn't see it, since Tails was behind him, but Eggman noticed it and decided to play on it.

"Is this true?  Are foxboy's gizmos and gadgets not good enough for you anymore?" he sneered.

"What?  I…" Sonic started.

Eggman looked at Tails.  "Face it, he doesn't need you anymore," he said. "Before, you felt like you were just a copy of him on his adventures, so you decided to use your mechanical abilities to find your own way in life.  Now your 'hero' is outdoing you in that area also."

Tails felt his anger building.  "Shut up," he said.

"Face it," Eggman continued, "Sonic can do everything you can do, but a hundred times better.  Neither Sonic or Shadow are the faker, you are."

Tails couldn't take it anymore.  "SHUT THE *!#%$ UP!!" he screamed, and started spin-attacking to robots.  Powered by his rage, even the titanium skin of the robots couldn't hold up to all those repeated hits. The robots started exploding, filling the area with smoke.

When the smoke cleared, all that was visible was scrap metal on the ground, and Tails standing there, trembling.  He had a bloody cut in his left arm, but he wasn't even aware of it.  The fur on his cheeks was marred with a mixture of oil from the robots, and his own tears.

The others looked at him in total shock.  Even Eggman was surprised.  He thought that he could distract them and have his robots attack.  He didn't think Tails would go in a rampage and destroy them.

The area was quiet for what seemed like an eternity, save for a light humming from Eggman's hovercraft, and the muffled sobs from Tails.  Finally, Sonic broke the silence.  "Tails?" he called, taking a step forward.

"Leave me alone!" Tails yelled and ran away from the scene.

_So much for my robots_, Eggman thought.  _Oh well, the hedgehog's weapon made them useless anyway_.  In truth, he hadn't started mass producing them yet.  These were just prototypes. _But perhaps I can still take advantage of the situation_.

"Well done, hedgehog. You've gotten rid of your best friend," Eggman said.

"Quiet, you," Sonic said in a low voice.

"Maybe you should try guarding the Master Emerald, or…uh…try shopping for bargains at the mall! Show your friends that you're better at doing what they do, and alienate them all!"

"Hey, what's that suppose to mean?" Amy said.  "I don't just shop!"

Sonic ignored her and started off after Tails.  Eggman laughed maniacally and then flew off.  Amy started to go after Sonic and Tails, but Knuckles held her back.

"They need to work this out themselves," he said.  "We should go after Eggman and stop his evil plans."


End file.
